


Ink

by BlackcatNamedlucky



Series: Alexander the Great [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, i hope u enjoy, literally just fluff, this was completely self indulgent and born out of sheer boredom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 10:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17980067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackcatNamedlucky/pseuds/BlackcatNamedlucky
Summary: Alec and Magnus spend a quiet morning in bed





	Ink

**Author's Note:**

> I pretty much just got bored and wanted to talk about Alec's tattoos in the AtG verse because they don't come up all that much in Broken Halos which I know I haven't updated in half a year...I got busy? I'm working on it, but right now it's 11 'n I gotta get up at 6 to get to work on time tomorrow.

Magnus lay on Alec’s chest, the two awash in the hazy, late morning sunlight filtering into Magnus’ bedroom through the sheer blinds that hung over his windows. They were barely awake, the dull shrouds of sleep still clinging to them as Magnus ran a lazy hand over the stark tattoo just above Alec’s hip bone.

“What does it mean?” he asked eventually, voice thick with sleep.

Alec looked down, his own hand coming to rest on Magnus’ side. “It says ‘To glory’ in Pashto. Got it when I was assigned to Fort Drum, ‘s part of the 10th Mountain Division’s motto. The, uh, crossed knives are the insignia,” he added, referencing the image on his right shoulder.

Magnus adjusted so he could look at Alec, studying his face. “You speak Pashto?”

“Yeah, learned it at the Academy. ‘M not fluent, really, but I know enough to get by spending eight months out of the year in Afghanistan.”

“There’s always something new about you, Alexander.”

They were quiet again for a moment before Magnus traced the simple black arrow that ran the length of Alec’s left forearm and he spoke up, “That one just looked cool. I saw it in the book at the parlor when I got this,” he held up his right hand to display 5-25-96 printed on the outside of his pointer finger. “The day I graduated from West Point. Jace got the same thing, and it was the most painful tattoo I’ve ever gotten. Not a recommended first experience.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet. Why on Earth did you do that?”

“I was 20 years old and stupid,” Alec deadpanned, flexing his fingers.

“Well, we’ve all been there.”

“Have we, though?”

Magnus let out a huff of laughter. “Near there, then. What about this one?” He laid a hand on the yellow dragon’s head on Alec’s chest, its body stretching over his shoulder and disappearing onto his back.

“14th Infantry, “Golden Dragons”. Most of us’ve got one like it, Harris’ is huge, covers his whole back. I barely did this. Two four-hour sessions and about a thousand bucks, close second on the most painful front, but it’s my favorite.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Magnus murmured, admiring the detailed shading of the dragon’s eyes.

“Hey, thought we were talking about the tattoos, not you,” Alec joked, jostling Magnus ever so slightly with his shoulder and earning a soft grin in return.

“You are too much sometimes.”

“I’m choosing to think that’s a good thing.”

“It usually is,” Magnus teased, smiling at Alec with the tip of his tongue poking out between his teeth.

“Wow, thanks babe,” Alec droned, raising an eyebrow at Magnus who just laughed in return.

“Always.”

After another beat of silence, the two smiling softly at each other, Magnus reached over Alec’s abdomen and gently held out his wrist and regarding the bouquet of yellow roses inked there, 2-5-04 written in neat script underneath it.

Alec cleared his throat, slipping his wrist out of Magnus’ grasp and crossing it over his stomach so the tattoo was no longer visible. “That one’s an in memoriam, I’d…rather not talk about it, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. Sorry.”

“No, you didn’t know, it’s fine. It’s just…hard.” He drew in a sharp breath. “Anyways, we should probably get out of bed at some point today,” he said, voice wavering ever so slightly.

“Yeah, but a couple more minutes can’t hurt anything, can they?” Magnus asked, running his hand up Alec’s chest so it came to rest on his shoulder.

Alec swallowed and grinned, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Guess not.”


End file.
